Sonia is a single mom of two in her 40s. She’s also a former drinking, chain-smoking food junkie. Then she made a New Year’s resolution that stuck. She wanted to lose 50 to 60 pounds and be active at least 30 minutes a day, six days a week. She started running and hasn’t stopped since. The Healthy Foodie is full of healthy recipes that will help you on your own weight loss journey. Visit the blog.

Emily Ho is a fashion-lover, social media strategist, writer, and lifestyle blogger for Authentically Emmie. In 2009, Emmie’s blog began as a weight loss blog, but over the years has evolved into something so much more. After losing over 110 pounds, she shifted her focus from losing weight and seeking validation from the scale to living a healthy lifestyle with the body she has, and not hating it. Her now healthy living blog is a platform to discuss life, plus-size fashion, body positivity, and more!
Just 4 days into the Keto plan, and woke up today feeling very bloated & my ring felt tight (not on scale yet – too scared). Trying not to panic, but I haven’t experienced that ‘whoosh of water release’ that you’re supposed to get at first. Maybe I have been using too much salt…(ate a lot of green olives as a snack yesterday too) Also – not real clear on portion sizes of meat.. Been doing stir fry’s with lots of veggies – maybe using too much salt & grated cheese as well? Also feeling ‘foggy’ & depressed… help!
Cut out ‘fat-bombs’ and bulletproof coffee. These are okay to consume for satiety, but if your goal is weight loss, too much fat will prevent your body from using its own fat stores for energy (refer to point above for more information). Just one bulletproof coffee may contribute nearly 50 grams of fat and almost 500 calories to your day. Imagine what a few cups of coffee, or several fat bombs, might do to your weight loss.
Too little sleep or too much sleep can throw your stress and regulatory hormones out of whack, and may lead to weight gain. A single night of sleep deprivation can increase levels of ghrelin (a hormone that promotes hunger), making you more likely to overeat the next day. Reduced sleep may also lead to fatigue during the day (duh) and less physical activity, which may be another reason why people who regularly don't get enough sleep tend to gain weight.

Hi Ashley, I have lost weight using a very similar diet to the low carb one mentioned here. However, my diet was even more strict i.e. I was not allowed to eat some veggies such as carrot, beetroot, more than a tomato a day etc and never had any legumes/beans because they were too high in carbohydrates for this diet. I am relatively small already but found the only way to loose any of the extra weight was to be extremely low carb. I have heard some researchers say it is because of the pill that this happens i.e. the pill will stop you loosing weight unless you go extremely low carb so maybe try sticking to only very low carb veggies.

I actually woke up this morning thinking that just as we plan our days, our social lives, our journeys so we need to really plan what we eat and – like a route map – and stick to it without deviation if we want to reach our goal. So that’s what I’m about to try. It is, however, all too easy, come the weekend, to be influenced by those around us who are not so bothered by their reflection in the mirror. But to be true to myself I am going to listen to my body and be strong in aiming for that end goal and not succumb to all those crisps with double gin and tonics(!), slices of toast with eggs for breakfast and snacks that I am given that I haven’t been in control of making. I’m going to ask if I am actually hungry or just bored or just being plain greedy. I will need to politely decline my husband’s pampering treats of cheese, pickle on brown bread – or offer to make a more healthy snack of my choice and making – crisp bread, crudités. Or perhaps I’ll simply half the snack and give my husband the other. I’ll listen to my body.

About Blog Healthful&Inspired’s mission is to provide inspiration for individuals who have the important goal of losing weight by means of helpful and inspirational articles, meaningful infographics and photographics that trigger an aspiration for success, real life weight loss success stories, weight loss products that work to help boost the process, and more to people who are looking for ways to become lighter and slimmer than they were yesterday.

CONTENT DISCLAIMER: The information presented on BrainyWeightLoss.com is educational in nature and is provided only as general information. This website is not designed to, and should not be construed to, provide medical advice to you or any other individual for diagnosing, treating or curing any disease and is not intended as a substitute for medical or professional care and treatment... more >>

On top of exercise, it’s nutrition. I believe they go hand in hand. In the beginning, improving nutrition was just as hard as improving fitness, except for sometimes now I think nutrition is more challenging. Exercising was just 1 - 1.5 hours a day of busting your butt, but nutrition was the remaining 22 hours, so there were way more opportunities to fall short or not eat as well as I could. However, because I think it is important to be optimistic, I will say that there were 22 hours a day to nourish my body with good and healthy foods. It just took me a long time to figure out the best way to do that (and just to clarify, I'm still figuring it out.)
Like I said, all of this revamped progress started in August and the weight loss was slow. Slow like an average of 1 pound a week. Some weeks I would lose 1 or 2 pounds and other weeks I would lose nothing. For a while, I didn't notice any physical changes and if it wasn't for the fact that I was standing on a scale looking at a different number, I wouldn't have any guessed my body was changing. The biggest change for me during this time was not what my body looked like, but what it felt like. I noticed the food I ate (in combination with my work outs) left me with more energy. I felt less sluggish and more ready to take on the day. Completed workouts and nutritious choices filled me with confidence and empowerment.
Hi – well after one week I can say I lost 1 kilo – great! … BUT put it back on! Ha! With visitors in town and the spine of a lettuce that’s what can happen. Hey ho and here we go again. Cianna – your achievement is wonderful. If you can keep doing what you’re doing you’re more than likely to adopt a new lifestyle and keep your pounds off. It is wise to adopt a change in lifestyle that can be sustained. Not sure how long Adam would advocate eating black beans!
134 pounds down during several major life upheavals may be what Erika of the Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss is known for, but what she is loved for is her sense of humor, tell-it-like-it-is style, and tenacity. Whether you're looking for exercise ideas or healthy recipes, she's there for you. She also covers more difficult subjects like sexual violence, body image, and racism. Her post What a Victim-Blaming World Looks Like to a Victim will really make you think.
3) In our recent blog post on NK and appetite, we point to newly published studies showing how low-grade inflammation can change the brain’s response to signals from hormones like insulin and leptin. In our on-going study with Dr. Hallberg at IUH, we have reported large and consistent reductions in two inflammation biomarkers (CRP and WBC count) at baseline and 1 year in the ketogenic diet group, which adds another level of complexity to the metabolic responses to various levels of dietary carbohydrate intake.

In high school, my body didn’t seem to go through many changes. As far as exercise goes, I stuck with track and field and figure skating. I never exercised outside of whatever practice I was going to during the week. As far as nutrition goes, I had a lot of the same habits as middle school but developed quite a few new unhealthy habits. Once I could drive and spend late nights with friends, my nutrition was crap. I remember stopping at QT (the best gas station in existence) on the way to every shift to work and getting a drink and snack or candy. I remember meeting friends late at night at whatever fast food joint. I remember ice cream multiple days of week in the summer, snacking after school before dinner, and snacking again before bed. One positive choice I made as a high schooler was when I vowed never to eat fast food meat again (I had to read the book “Fast Food Nation” in an English class and was disgusted about the fast food meat industry and have never missed it since). As far as body image goes, again, I remember feeling overweight and embarrassed, but also being muscular because of figure skating. Again, like middle school, really solid and supportive friends surrounded me so I never felt isolated or disliked because of my weight. However, I would say in middle and high school I never felt confident in my body or loved the way I felt or looked.

1000 crunches a night may get you strong abdominal muscles, but with a full layer of fat on top, you will not get the results you really want. Instead of all those crunches, do exercises that engage multiple muscle groups and work your cardiovascular system. Try planking, where you hold yourself in a push-up position, resting your forearms on the ground. Try 3 or 4 sets of holding for 30 seconds each. Getting up and moving throughout the day by going for walks will also help.

I love following you guys on Twitter, which is how I came across all of these articles, and they’re normally right on the money, but this one really struck a chord with me because there are plenty of weight loss plans that don’t have warnings for short term use. And coming from a woman who has tried them all, sometimes experience speaks volumes. I once used a personal trainer who was convinced I needed to see a nutritionist, and when I finally scheduled my appointment with her, she sent me home with a note to my personal trainer essentially telling him he was crazy for thinking I didn’t have a handle on healthy eating.

At that point, I stopped with the drinking and going to bars, but still didn’t exercise and I didn’t cut back on the eating. I ended up going down to about 172lbs. That seems to be where my weight stayed for years, and I excepted that. If you punch in my height and weight, I was at the top of my average range. People in my family made comments here and there but nothing to make me think differently. I didn’t know I had a weight issue. I remember my Grandmother saying to me “your Mother at your age was skinny”. I remember that hurt my feelings, but it still didn’t do anything. I thought this is where I was suppose to stay. I didn’t know how to lose weight.

Keep your exercise regimen interesting. Variety is the key to both promoting a healthier you and keeping you motivated. When you do the same exercise day in and day out, you put yourself at a higher risk of injuring yourself. You are also more likely to become bored, thus making it harder to find the motivation to keep exercising. While at the gym, switch between machines, join a fitness class, and add some resistance training into your schedule.[3]
Sarah Dussault is a mother, a Certified Personal Trainer, Holistic Health Coach, and full-time health and wellness blogger and YouTuber. Her mission is to help young women learn how to eat clean and get fit so they can feel confident about the way they look, without depriving themselves of a social life. She shares fitness videos, healthy recipes, mom stuff, and health and fitness for pregnancy all on her blog!
Annamarie Rivera’s weight loss transformation has been 10 years in the making. In early 2010, Annamarie weighed 400 pounds and wore a size 28 in pants. Today, she is over 230 pounds smaller and has an entirely new outlook on life. Her blog, Weight Loss With Annamarie, shares her incredible weight loss journey along with the joys and struggles that come along with it. Whether you’re just beginning your weight loss journey or trying to lose those last few pounds, Annamarie’s inspirational blog will help you persevere through the ups and downs.

If you're dehydrated, it can be hard to tell if you're hungry or just thirsty. If you're craving a mid-day snack, have a glass of water and wait a few minutes before reassessing how hungry you really are. Water also helps food move through your digestive system, lessening feelings of bloating. It's a good idea to keep a water bottle with you throughout the day. Add in cucumber slices or fresh fruit to infuse flavor.

It takes a lot of guts to share a story like this, but I truly believe you will inspire so many people by doing so. You are beautiful, then and now. It is very hard to share our lives on a blog because so many people see this “picture perfect” life and think they can’t relate. To share our real life experiences, along with the beautiful rooms and decor give people a chance to truly relate that they too can have a beautiful space- and that they too can get off the couch and take their life into their hands and do what it takes to lose that 10 or 100 lbs. Like your friend said, you are an inspiration- and I am happy to follow along on your journey!
Don’t let extra hours lounging in bed stand between you and a flatter belly. While getting enough sleep can help boost your metabolic rate, sleeping in may undo any benefit you’d enjoy from catching a few extra winks. One study reveals that late sleepers who snoozed past 10:45 in the morning ate nearly 250 more calories over the course of the day, despite eating half as many fruits and vegetables as their early bird counterparts. Even worse, they chowed down on more salty, sugary, and trans fat-laden fast food than those who woke up earlier. If you happen to head out of the house early, you’re in for an additional metabolic boost; researchers at Northwestern University have found that people exposed to just a short period of early morning sunlight had lower BMIs than their late-waking counterparts.
If you get enough protein and fat, your total calorie intake should take care of itself. Because you feel full, you won't binge on a can of Pringles and blow your calorie count for the day. The remaining 45 percent of calories in our plan comes from carbohydrates — enough to give your palate a full range of tastes and your body a combination of fast- and slow-burning fuel.

About: Dustin spent much of his life being “slightly overweight,” never obese, but enough so that he wasn’t super comfortable in his own skin. But one day he decided to start exercising — lifting weights, crossfit and similar workouts, and slowly but surely, his body began to see the results he’d hoped. His interest in food also grew. He always liked meats, but decided to expand into baking too. These days, he’s packing his blog with clever twists on recipes — always making sure they’re nutritious and delicious — as well as fitness routines and updates on his progress. He’s just the guy if you want to take it nice and easy to lose weight.

Hi – well after one week I can say I lost 1 kilo – great! … BUT put it back on! Ha! With visitors in town and the spine of a lettuce that’s what can happen. Hey ho and here we go again. Cianna – your achievement is wonderful. If you can keep doing what you’re doing you’re more than likely to adopt a new lifestyle and keep your pounds off. It is wise to adopt a change in lifestyle that can be sustained. Not sure how long Adam would advocate eating black beans!

Your phone, tablet, and television may be affecting your waist size in more ways that one. Obviously if you’re sitting on electronics then you’re not moving around and burning calories. But the effects go beyond just energy. Blue light from electronic screens can disrupt your circadian rhythms; so our addiction to electronics is reducing our sleep as people favor Netflix-bingeing to bed. Both of these effects have been linked to higher levels of belly fat. These 21 other terrible habits will make your belly fat worse.
One easy trick if you're a pasta fan is to swap out white pasta for the wonderfully named courgetti (spaghetti made from spiralizing courgette). You’ll hardly notice the difference when you’re eating it, but you’ll be fuller for longer despite consuming fewer calories. When you consume fewer calories, your body can go to your fat reserves for energy, rather than just burning off the food you’ve eaten.
Belly fat is is different from fat elsewhere in your body. The extra weight some people carry around their waists, arms, and love handles isn’t the same — that’s subcutaneous fat, which sits beneath the skin and is relatively harmless, according to Harvard Medical School. The stuff in your belly, visceral fat, lodges deeper down, around your abdominal organs. It's metabolically active tissue that actually functions like a separate organ, releasing substances into the rest of your body that, in excess, can increase your risk of disease.
Nuts. It’s very easy to eat until the nuts are gone, regardless of how full you are. A tip: According to science, salted nuts are harder to stop eating than unsalted nuts. Salted nuts tempt you to more overeating. Good to know. Another tip: Avoid bringing the entire bag to the couch, preferably choose a small bowl instead. I often eat all the nuts in front of me, whether I’m hungry or not.
Women usually need fewer calories than men, especially as they age. That's because women naturally have less muscle, more body fat, and are usually smaller than men. On average, adult women need between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day. As you age, you need to take in fewer calories to maintain the same weight. You can also keep your weight healthy by increasing how much physical activity you get.
In reality, losing belly fat takes time. Although you probably won't completely transform your physique in two months, you can see progress in just a matter of eight weeks. Eric Bowling, an NASM-certified personal trainer at Ultimate Performance who helps clients with weight loss, told POPSUGAR you can achieve "drastic and tangible improvements" in eight weeks.
Make lunch at home and bring it to work. That way, you know of every single ingredient that's going into your meal. Not to mention it'll save you the cost of buying a lunch. Cleveland Clinic recommends making sure one half of your plate is filled with leafy greens, one quarter is lean meat, and the other quarter is whole grains like brown rice or barley.
About: The best word to describe Chanden's blog is sassy. She’s not afraid to write a little rough around the edges (if you know what we mean), and she’s got a fun personality which comes through her posts as she works to get fit and change her eating habits. She does that by creating healthy recipes and offering cooking tips that she used to drop 70 pounds since she started her blog in March 2015. She also shares her own personal journey and thoughts, and her recipes are in a league of their own.
About: Kristen is a 42-year-old woman who a few years back decided she was going to lose weight — and she was going to do so by running and blogging about it. She lost 50 pounds, and along the way discovered that far from hating running like she assumed she would, she actually loved it...and hiking, and yoga, and much, much more. Her blog posts are full of inspiration, simple tips and tricks for making healthier choices, healthy recipes, fitness and personal musings.
About: My Fat Friend Blog mixes two total opposites: Alex, the “fat friend” who is trying to lose weight and get fit. Sarah is the “not-fat friend,” the one who is really into fitness and healthy eating and who is on a mission to help Alex learn to love it the way she does. The blog is very, very new (just started in March), but so far, so good. The posts are entertaining, have fun photos and will have you laughing out loud.

Jenn Mitchell is a mother and creator of Comeback Momma, a healthy living blog inspiring readers to live happier and healthier lives. After losing over 50 post-baby pounds and rebounding from postpartum depression twice, Jen became a successful blogger and Personal Trainer. When her anxiety and depression returned years later, she struggled to keep the weight off and rebounded 20 pounds. Now, she’s found a healthy balance and is on the right path toward health and happiness and is a true comeback momma! With the help of her blog contributor, Chrissy, a mother, dietician, and triathlete, the Comeback Momma blog is inspiring women to constantly strive to find the best within themselves.